


My Brother's Keeper

by EmeraldJaded



Category: The Almighty Johnsons
Genre: Aftermath, F/M, Healing, M/M, Mention of Zeb/Eggther, Mentions (later) of Michele/Anders, Mentions of Mike/Hanna, Mentions of Rape, Mentions of attempted suicide, Recovery, more tags to be added later
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-21
Updated: 2014-07-22
Packaged: 2018-01-20 06:36:06
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,442
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1500386
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmeraldJaded/pseuds/EmeraldJaded
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This shouldn’t be happening, not to him of all people.  No one should have to know this pain, least of all him.  He is the big brother and he shouldn’t be suffering the way he is.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Sabishiioni](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sabishiioni/gifts).



> Disclaimer: I don’t own the Almighty Johnsons, but am having a lot of fun screwing up their lives!
> 
> Author's Notes: Okay…was going to put on here why I did this story and some junk, but if I did that…I’d be giving some stuff away! This takes place after the gods went home…
> 
> So…basically…this is a “Thank you Sabishiioni” gift. You are an awesome sounding board, a wicked idea person, and most importantly, a very good friend/partner in crime!
> 
> Thank you FuryNZ for beta reading this story.

_This shouldn’t be happening, not to him of all people. No one should have to know this pain, least of all him. He is the big brother and he shouldn’t be suffering the way he is,_ Anders fretted as he waited in the hospital lounge for word on Mike. Finding him the way he did, there was only thing that could’ve happened. He tried to keep it out of his mind how he knew the officer in charge of the investigation.

He didn’t say anything as Ty and Axl came in. Anders hoped their grandfather would get the message left for him and Stacey. With just a silent shake of his head he let them know there was no update. Watching as they sat, he knew what he needed to do was figure out how was he supposed to tell them that someone raped their older brother?

Time seemed to pass in a blur as they all waited for news on Mike. Anders talked to the police again as he was the one to find his brother’s beaten body on the floor of his workshop. He found it ironic that the same cop who handled his still unsolved case was now handling his brother’s case. Just how long would it be before he connected the two, if he even remembered his case. Not once during that time did he speak to anyone else there. Too many bad memories were stirred up in him, and he was not about to let them know about them.

He couldn’t help but blink when the coffee cup was placed in his hand. The surprise came when he looked up to see Axl sitting on the table in front of him.

“How you holding up?”

“How am I holding up? Axl, just how the hell am I supposed to be holding up after seeing what I saw this morning?” He sighed as he realized how much like the old Anders that sounded like. They all knew he was trying to change now that his business was starting to boom. Placing the cup on the table next to Axl, he just stared. “Sorry, that was uncalled for. It’s just hard to imagine him being hurt like that. He’s our big brother and is supposed to be the invincible one, you know?”

Axl only nodded as moved next to his brother and pulled him closer. “Look, Mike’s going to be fine. He’s strong and going to pull through this with flying colors. I mean, it was just a mugging, right?”

“Axl, Mike was raped.” Anders stared at him for a moment and the look on his face was if the blond was completely mad. “Someone broke into his workshop, hit him over the head, and raped him. That’s not something you can just snap your fingers at and poof, you’re over it.”

“That’s impossible,” Axl exclaimed. The disbelief rang in his voice. “He wouldn’t let that happen to him. He had to have been mugged!”

"Muggers don't take the time to pull off someone’s pants and underwear, nor do they leave marks on their victim’s waist. Muggers don’t usually leave other evidence that made the paramedics take one look at him and they knew he was raped." Anders fists were balled at his side as he tried his best not to slug his little brother. Now that he wasn’t Odin anymore, he could do some serious damage to the idiot. He was just thankful that Ty decided not to say anything. “So, are you going to try to convince me that it was something other than a rape?”

Everyone stared in shock as a moment later Michele came in and Axl was sitting on the floor. Anders moved so fast that no one could stop him from hitting his little brother. A hand covered his nose, but the blood was starting to trickle out from under it. Michele glanced at her lover and saw him glaring at his brother and shaking his hand in pain.

* * *

He found the room too quiet for his liking. Even with all the beeping from the monitors, it was still too quiet. All he wanted to do was go home. Mike looked up groggily from his pillow as his brothers came in from the hall. He couldn’t help but to blink at Anders holding an ice pack to his hand and the dried blood under Axl's nose. "Do I even want to know?"

Ty chuckled at him and shook his head. "It might be best if you don't, but I've never seen Anders defend someone else like he just did."

Mike’s eyes hiked up even higher. Anders actually stood up for someone and punched his little brother for it. Looking at the blond, he chuckled as he flexed his hand before putting the ice back on it. He knew that Anders stood up for him. It couldn’t have been easy for him to find him how he had. The distant look in the blond’s eyes worried him though.

“You okay there Munchkin?”

“Seriously? Did you really have to call me that in public?” That was a nickname Mike no longer used for him, not since he was six years old and he wished that name was forgotten. Moving over to the bed, he made sure to keep the iced hand out of his reach. “How are you feeling?”

“Like I was hit over the head with a two by four and hit by a truck. Michele said I could go home tomorrow as long as someone is there to watch after me. Got to have someone monitor my medications and get me to my appointments.”

Anders smiled and took his hand with his good one. There was no way he was letting anyone handle this. He knew exactly how to handle this situation. “My schedule is the loosest of everyone here so I’ll handle it. I’ll arrange everything with Dawn. If I have to go to a meeting, one of you guys could come over and stay with him.”

Everyone stared at him in shock. There was never a time that any of them could remember where Anders offered to take care of one of them. None of them argued for that reason and the fact that he was right. Apparently being his own boss was going to come in handy till Hannah returned from her buying trip overseas.

The four of them spent the afternoon arranging things with both Dawn and Stacey. Ty was going to be the courier assigned exclusively to the J:PR run. After that, they just talked about stupid stuff to help keep Mike’s mind off what happened.

It wasn’t until Axl made the suggestion of dinner that they noticed that Anders was sound asleep in one of the hospital chairs. What worried them though, was that it looked like he was starting to have a nightmare. Mike motioned for the two of them to leave.

“Hey, munchkin, time to wake up!” Picking the napkin off the tray from dinner, he balled it up and tossed it at his brother’s face. It only took a second for the other to wake up enough to register what happened. “Bad dream?”

“Something like that,” Anders sighed as he stood up before moving a little closer to the bed. “Bad memory is more like it. Not something I’m up to talking about right now.”

The last thing he needed was his brother finding out the truth about him. He would never look at him the same way again. Taking his hand, he knew that Mikkel suspected something. All he needed to do was make sure that he never found out the truth.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own the Almighty Johnsons, but am having a lot of fun screwing up their lives!
> 
> Author's Notes: This is a short chapter…only cause this one scene is a little emotional. Please enjoy it and feel free to leave me comments on how evil I am…or if you want to share your "hypothesizes" on what will happen in future chapters...
> 
> IF YOU HAVE ISSUES WITH THE DESCRIPTION OF RAPE - PLEASE STOP HERE AND DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER!

* * *

 

Mike relaxed in his own bed and was amazed how easy Anders fit into the role of caretaker. This same man was also scaring him beyond words. The first day he left only to go home, shower, and feed his fish. As soon as he finished them, he was right back at his bedside. His brother was on edge about something and the nightmares alone were starting to worry the whole family. There was a promise to speak to him as soon as he could, but didn’t want to do it while the others were there.

It still amazed him how Anders could talk people into doing things. He told Hannah that she should continue on with her buying trip and he would watch after her fiancé till she got back. The two become good friends since the gods left. She even hired his firm handle the PR for her boutique. Soon after the first campaign, he remembered, she needed to hire on about three new sales consultants. Anders skills still were there and with Bragi gone, he worked harder than ever before to keep everything going.

“Hey, Anders, why don’t you come here and talk to me?” Mike asked while curled on his side in the bed. Normally, he would stay with Hannah at her place, but this was a more centralized place for everyone to come and visit.

Anders moved over to the bed and lay down next to his brother. This was something they hadn’t done since Ty was born. His brain warned him not to do it and to insist that Mike get some rest. It was only a matter of time before they found out his secret. “What’s up?”

“You tell me,” Mike asked as he watched his brother. Reaching over, he pushed a lock of his hair off his face. “I’m worried about these nightmares you’ve been having. Also, not that I mind, but how do you know so much about the medications I’m on?”

There was a point during his short hospital stay that Anders even surprised Michelle with his knowledge of the drugs Mike needed to take. He knew exactly when they were supposed to be taken, what needed to be taken with food, and what other drugs shouldn’t be taken with them.

“Please don’t make me do this,” Anders pleaded with his brother. The look in his brother’s eyes, though made him know that it wasn’t going to be a topic that he wasn’t going to give up. Maybe it was best to tell at least one of them, and if anyone would know how he felt, it would be Mike. “The answer to all your questions is simple. I know what you’re going through.”

Mike sat up before remembering why he was laying on his side. He just stared at Anders as he lay back on his side. “What the fuck do you mean you know what I’m going through?”

Anders sat up on the bed and wrapped his arms around his legs. He spoke quietly of the rancid smell on the cloth before he blacked out. The burn of the rope that tied his hands behind his back when he woke up. How his skin felt over sensitized as he was drugged and sexually tortured for what seemed like hours. The pain of feeling like he was being ripped apart when his attacker penetrated him over and over. Tears fell when he told his brother how it was the worse 12 hours of his life. He wanted to break down even more when he admitted to having gone through it all alone.

"You never really get over it," Anders said as he rested his head on his knees. "You learn to live with the fact that it happened, but there will always be a part of you that's scared from what happened. Living gets easier after a time, but the event is always lurking in the shadows."

"You shouldn’t have gone through it alone,” Mike said as he touched his brother's shoulder.

“You know the worst part of it? The fact that he’s still out there and I can’t do anything to get him arrested cause he threatened to hurt our youngest brother.” Anders exclaimed as the tears fell harder. It felt so good to get what he went through out. Felt so much better because it was his big brother he told it to.

“Will you at least go through counseling with me?”

Anders only nodded as Mike sat up and pulled his crying brother into his arms. No matter what, Anders would not have go through this alone. Neither of them would. The minute Anders cried himself to sleep, he grabbed his phone and sent a message to Ty to get the rest of the former gods and goddesses together. It was past time for a thing!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you would like updates, please follow me on my tumblr page: [Jadedmooneflowerz](http://jadedmooneflowerz.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Title graphic made with image from outlawgraphics.com


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own the Almighty Johnsons, but am having a lot of fun screwing up their lives!  
> Author's Notes: I’m evil and proud of it. If you don’t like it…go somewhere else. Also…a huge thank you to Sabi! She’s the one who put the ideal of the gods coming back in separate bodies into my head (yea, she did that before I saw the final episode of TAJ)

 

* * *

By the time Anders woke up from his impromptu nap Olaf and Ingrid were in Mike’s kitchen talking while Michele sat on a chair next to the bed. He knew that Ty and Dawn had at least been there for a little bit as there were cupcakes on the table, and the smell of Dawn’s lasagna filled the air. Glancing down at the bed beside him, Mike was nowhere in sight.

“Good morning, handsome,” Michele purred as she sat down next to her lover. “About time you woke up.”

“Where’s Mike?” Anders asked as he sat up to look her in the eye. Knowing that this woman had stayed by his side for a year now and was still by his side. He knew he was falling in love with her. He wanted to be a better man for her. A man who could keep her interests. A man who would never see her hurt again.

“Outside with Dawn and Ty. He wanted some fresh air and to talk to them about something.” Watching as he glanced around, she reached over to take his hand in her hand. “Olaf hid your shoes in the freezer so that Dawn, Ty, and Mike could have a moment alone.”

The blond flew out of bed and to the freezer, moving faster than ever before to grab his leather dress shoes out of the cold. He just glared at his grandfather as he went to put them on a towel to dry. He was thankful that they were only in there for a few minutes, so the damage was minimal. “Seriously Grandpa, if they wanted privacy you could’ve just said so! I just hope you didn’t ruin the shoes Michele gave me only last week.”

“Guys,” Mike’s voice interrupted any further discussion about the shoes. “We have a problem and some company.”

They all watched as Axl, Ty, Zeb, and Dawn came into the apartment. The moment when a group of people, who looked like them entered the room, everyone knew that the gods came back and seemed to know what type of problem Mike mentioned. The moment Anders eyes fell on Idunn, his heart sank. She looked like Helen and not Gaia.

“Loki is missing,” Odin decreed. "While we tried not to involve you, we sensed that he’s been here within the last few days."

“Oh god,” Mike whispered as he turned to lean on the table behind him. Everyone watched as the black haired man’s shoulders shook. He prayed that it could be someone else. Anyone but Colin Gunderson. He wished he could remember something from the attack. Leave it to Anders to voice the questions in his head out loud.

“Attacked? Who dared this attack?” Ullr looked ready to kill anyone who dared touch the man who he lived with for so long. Michele stepped in and attempted to calm the god down by explaining that Mike didn’t remember anything from the rape. “What kind of weak man have you become since we left? How could you allow yourself to be raped?”

“Allowed? You honestly think that Mike allowed this to happen?” Anders stared dumbfounded at the god. He tried to keep his temper in check after doing such a miserable job at the hospital with Axl. “You try getting hit over the head with a two by four and see how good you are at defending yourself!”

“Yeah, Mike’s not like Anders! He’s strong! He’s always been there for us! So what if he needed a little help? That’s what family is for!” Axl growled at Ullr.

The words hurt Anders down to his core. Worse than a knife to the stomach or a fist to the face. He couldn’t explain to them, not now, that he’d also been raped. They wouldn’t understand it and from how Axl talked would think he asked for it. The moment he stepped back to sneak out, all chaos broke out.

It only took a moment for Bragi to get Axl up against the wall and the sword to his throat. While he preferred nonviolence, he knew how to make a sword sing with his victim's last breath. "You know nothing of your brother! I will be the first to tell you that he suffered a great deal due to not only this family, but due to a similar attack on him. You think your brother Mike is the first in your family to suffer a rape? You think it an easy thing to recover from? You are still a naive child who needs to open his eyes to the pain and suffering of those around you."

Anders anger grew by the sudden display of concern from Bragi. Pulling his once god off his little brother, all he wanted to do was throw everything into his face. He was so angry that a part of him just spoke, not thinking of what words were coming out. "You don't get a say in this Bragi!" Anders yelled at him. "Especially when you’re just as guilty of rape as Colin and Loki are!"

No one in the room made a sound. The pure rage emanating off the blond scared even Odin himself. Anders was a coward in a lot of respects, but here he stood taking on a god with a sword with nothing but words. Part of them wondered if he even realized what he was saying.

"Why couldn't you just let it go? You and Idunn are both guilty of raping Gaia and me! Neither of us wanted to do it, but you wouldn't listen to us. Just went on your merry way, took over our bodies, and raped us! There are times that I wish you'd never stopped me from ending my life in Norway! Maybe then I wouldn't have to live with the knowledge that I’ve been raped THREE FUCKING TIMES in my life!"

Without another word the blond fled the scene with his eldest brother right on his tail. The blond couldn’t believe what he had just admitted to in front of everyone. What could he possibly expect to gain from blurting that out? Close to a block away, he felt Mike’s hands on his shoulder pulling him into a hug. His brother just held on to Anders for dear life.

“You weren’t lying that day, were you? That you two were the victims in that story.” When he felt his brother’s head just shake from side to side a pang of guilt crept into his stomach. He tried to make Anders apologize to Axl for what happened while his brother saw it as a rape. “I’m sorry for how I treated you then. You were right to stand your ground and not apologize. We could have handled that better, couldn’t we?”

Anders pulled back from his older brother and wiped at the tears with the sleeve of his jacket. “We all could’ve, including me. God, now they all know that I’ve been raped and that I tried to kill myself in Norway. They must think that I’ve lost it.”

“No, they probably think you are a man who has been through so much on his own.” Mike reached out and wiped a tear off his brother’s face. “They could also think that they’re idiots for not seeing the pain you went through, cause I know I do. That being said they might think that all you have to do is ask and they’re going to be there for you. Now, let’s get inside before your feet get too cold.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you would like updates, please follow me on my tumblr page: [Jadedmooneflowerz](http://jadedmooneflowerz.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Title graphic made with image from outlawgraphics.com


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own the Almighty Johnsons, but am having a lot of fun screwing up their lives!  
> Author's Notes: **WARNING! GOING INTO MORE DETAILS OF ANDERS ATTEMPTED SUICIDE!**
> 
> EDIT NOTE: Apparently I forgot a scene when I posted this. SORRY!

 

* * *

Anders didn’t want to have this conversation. Standing at the bottom of the stairs with his big brother behind him, he stared at his former god. He would blow up if this was another halfhearted attempt to apologize to him. Leaning against the wall, he watched the god move off the stairs.

“I know you don’t want an apology and that it won’t change anything that happened to you. What I will say, and mean with all my heart, is that I do regret what happened during the whole situation with Gaia. Neither of us intended to make you two feel like victims because I couldn’t keep it in your pants.”

Crossing his arms while nodding his head, Anders glanced at the god. “If you guys ever decide to do this whole ‘inhabiting other people’ thing again, do everyone a favor and learn how to abstain! It’s not a good feeling knowing that you took over my body and did what you did.”

“We’ve spent a lot of time thinking things through from both of yours perspective. Idunn and I have come to the conclusion that we wronged you both. Nothing can make up for all that we did, but it is our hope that all involved can move forward and prosper in our lives.”

Even before Bragi came into his life, Anders could always read a person’s expression pretty well. It came in handy to know when your father was going to blow up at someone. The look in Bragi’s eyes showed that the god showed a true remorse for the events that took place. While he doubted he would ever forget, he could forgive him for what happened. “It’s not the worst thing that’s happened to me, that’s for sure. I’ll forgive you if you tell me why Idunn doesn’t look like Gaia when the rest of you look like us.”

“Gaia wasn’t supposed to be in our pantheon but that of the Maori gods as Papatūānuku. She was able to go into the next birthday girl and they were able to return to their home as well.” Bragi smiled at his former host and motioned to the stairs. Things could have gone a lot worse and words could not describe how thankful he was that the blond was a forgiving man. “Now, I think there is much to discuss.”

As the three headed up the stairs Anders knew that there would be questions asked about his experience. Part of him wasn’t sure if he could bring himself to answer them.

* * *

When he walked into the room his heart sank the moment everyone looked at him. The worried and hurt look in their eyes made him squirm with a little guilt. Anders knew he should have talked to them, but worried that they wouldn’t fully be able to understand what he went through. It was the concerned look in Ty’s eyes that made him feel the most guilt.

“When?” That one word uttered from Axl’s lips didn’t contain the scorn he feared from his brother. It amazed him that the one word question showed more concern than Axl ever showed the blond.

“You pretty much know when the second two happened,” Anders stated as he sat down on a nearby chair. He could do this, he knew he could. Taking a deep breath, he stared at Mike for support. “The first time happened the night of Ty’s wedding to Eva. I’d gone to see Agnetha to talk and after a few hours, most of that time with her trying to convince me that she was in fact our mom, I headed for home. He must’ve already been there, because the moment I opened the door I felt this rag over my mouth. I remember the sickening sweet smell of whatever was on that cloth and the next minute I’m tied to my bed naked.”

Anders took a deep breath as his older brother kneeled in front of him while squeezing his hands. “You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.”

“Yes, Mike, I do. They have a right to know and I can’t keep hiding from it.” He pulled his hands away from the older man and rubbed the tears away. From the concern written all over his brother’s face, he wondered which was better. To remember while going through life fearing something might trigger the memories or to not know and always wonder. “Maybe this is what I need to start healing from what he did to me?” He smiled slightly as Mike’s hand squeezed his shoulder.

“The things he did to me, something tells me that you don’t want to know the gruesome details. Let’s just say that it was the worst twelve hours of my life. I’ve never felt more humiliated or hurt so much in my life. The bullying I went through throughout my entire childhood was like a walk in the park compared to that.”

He took a shaky breath noticing everyone watched him with their full attention. By now, Ty and Michele were both at his side offering him their support should he want it. “After he left, I went to a clinic I knew of. From there, I ended up staying at the office when I couldn’t bring myself to return to my apartment. A few days later, mom sent me on the quest to get Yggdrasil. Can’t tell you how quick I grabbed the chance to get the fuck out of Auckland.”

Mike could tell that his brother was starting to have problems with where this conversation was going. Squeezing the blond’s hands, he reassured him that someone was here for him and would stop this if it got too much. From the look in his little brother’s eyes, he understood that perfectly well. “Do you want something to drink?”

Anders shook his head at the question as he pulled his hands away from Mike again. Covering his face, he took a few minutes to breathe and collect himself. Things like this were never easy to admit. How could you tell someone that you were weak enough to want to end it? How could you lose someone’s respect in you, no matter how little they had? He was thankful that he wouldn’t lose Mike’s respect. If nothing else, he deserved the truth about the matter. Maybe he was right. Maybe the others would be there for him now that he was asking for the help?

“When I was in Norway, I kept having the nightmares. Those nightmares led to my drinking and the whole god-hunter mess.” It still irked him that they almost succeeded in killing Ty. “Well, one night the dreams were almost like I was reliving it. I woke up feeling him touching me and inside me again.”

Looking at Bragi, he pleaded for help from the only person who knew what happened that dreadful night. The moment the god of poetry nodded, Anders took off to the bathroom. Stepping forward, he grabbed everyone’s attention with what he said next. “He ended up taking half a bottle of sleeping pills and rinsing it down with vodka. When I realized the threat to both of us, I quickly took over his body and made him throw most of it up. I got him down to the lobby before his body gave out on me. When we arrived at the hospital, I was still in control of Anders. When I was finally able to wake his body up, I told the doctors what happened, what he took and drank, and that after that he vomited most of it up. From what the doctors said, his vomiting may have saved his life.”

“The next day, Agnetha called and Anders told her that he came down with a bad stomach bug. I don’t think she believed him and told him that she was going to try to send Ty there to be with him.”

To everyone’s surprise, it was Michele who stood up and walked to the bathroom. No knock on the door or asking if it was alright to go in. As she opened the door, everyone could hear the sounds of Anders sobbing echoing through the room before being cut off by the door closing.

* * *

Michele stared for a moment at the body curled in the corner of the walk in shower. While she was not a touchy feely person, all she wanted to do was wrap her arms around him. If she could, she would make everything that happened to him go away. He was making her do the one thing she swore she would never do. She was falling in love with this broken man. Slipping her shoes off before moving to sit next to him, she was careful not to scare the man. “While I wish you would’ve told me what happened, I can see why you didn’t.”

The red swollen eyes that watched her were the true signs of how broken her lover truly was. When he leaned his head on her shoulder, she felt it was a small victory. “I’m here for you. Please don’t forget that. If you want to talk, just tell me what’s on your mind.”

The two sat in relative silence for a few minutes as Anders tried to calm himself enough to trust his voice. “Things were finally getting better for me. I found someone I could see myself with for the rest of my life. Then this happened with Mike and all this crap came flooding back.”

“We’ll take this one day at a time and together we’ll get through this. I’m not going to give up on you, nor am I going to let you give up on getting better. I promise you that.” She ran her fingers through his golden blond hair and realized in that moment what an amazing man he was deep down. She’d worked with rape victims at the hospital before so she knew a little of what he went through. It amazed her that he did everything to recover from his twelve hour ordeal on his own. Most patients she'd seen would have issues dealing with one that was over in a flash of an eye.

The two sat on the floor like that for another thirty minutes. Neither spoke while they both basked in the silence. He needed the quiet to calm his nerves before he went back out there.

* * *

The moment Anders stepped out behind Michele; he knew from the look on Mike’s face that something happened while he calmed down. He watched as his brother played with the phone and wondered who called him.

“Mike?”

“I need to know,” Mike started softly as he moved to his brother. Taking his brother’s hands into his own, he looked into the blond’s eyes. “Who raped you?”

Shaking his head, he tried to pull away from his big brother. There was pure fear in both his actions and his eyes. “Please don’t ask me. I can’t tell you!”

His brother’s firm grip showed he wasn’t going to up to Anders’ fears. “I know you’re scared that he’ll do something to Axl, but I will do everything in my power to stop that from happening. Please tell me who raped you or should I say raped us.”

Anders fell to the bed and just stared at his brother. The bastard dared to rape his brother? What was next? Would he go after Ty then Axl? Even after everything he told his family, why was he still so afraid of telling them who raped him? With a glance at the youngest of the Johnson boys, he knew why he couldn’t, but knew he had to.

“Colin Gunderson.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you would like updates, please follow me on my tumblr page: [Jadedmooneflowerz](http://jadedmooneflowerz.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Title graphic made with image from outlawgraphics.com


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own the Almighty Johnsons, but am having a lot of fun screwing up their lives!  
> Author's Notes: WARNING! RAPE!  
> Also…we’re nearing the end and I’m ready to start crying. I will miss this story (sometimes).

Mike worried about how long his brothers were gone. Anders said he wanted to go home, feed his fish, change clothes, and get his mail. That was almost three hours ago. He knew that, more than likely, the dwarf just wanted to get away from the discussion of the rape. Everyone was kicking themselves for not noticing what was going on back then.

“You know, they might be talking about all this stuff that’s going on…” Michele tried to be reassuring, but Mike couldn’t be sure exactly who she was trying to reassure.

Mike just grabbed her hand and squeezed. They were going to need each other until Anders was safely back with them.

* * *

Anders woke feeling pain in his shoulders from his arms chained over his head. He wished he’d listened to Mike and stayed at the apartment. His worst nightmare came back to haunt him the moment that Colin pointed the gun at his youngest brother’s head and ordered them out to his car. The blond hoped that the bastard left his brother at his apartment. If that happened, then help was on its way.

He tried to take inventory of everything else going on around him. A blindfold covered his eyes and shackles bound his feet apart. The moment he felt the cold metal that entrapped his cock and something large in his ass did he start to panic. Pulling on the chains brought someone’s attention to him and he wanted to curse the moment he heard his little brother’s voice.

“Anders, please keep calm. You seriously don’t want Colin’s attention. I’m trying to get out loose so I can get us both out.”

The sound of his brother’s voice proved to be enough of an incentive to get out of here himself. It couldn’t be worse than the first time Colin captured him. He needed to keep Axl safe. There had to be a way to get loose from the bindings. Minutes passed as he kept trying to get out.

“Fuck,” he groaned as the vibrations started around his cock. He tried to keep calm, but as the vibrations grew the pain intensified. He barely heard Axl’s pleading for him to be okay as he felt himself drift away with the agony.

It took everything in Anders power not to breakdown when all too familiar lips started moving down his back. His own pleading became louder and louder when Colin removed the large item inside him, replacing with it with his own cock. A hand wrapped itself around the business owner’s neck, leaving him gasping for breath while he kept trying to pull away and get Axl out.

“I’m going to make you remember who you belong to.” Colin chuckled into Anders ear just moments before a knife bit into the blond’s hip.

The last thing he heard was Axl calling his name before his entire world went blank.

* * *

People tried to contact both Anders and Axl using their phones while Ullr used his powers to find them, all with little luck. Touching a hand to Michele’s face, Mike could see the conflict warring in her. “I hate saying this, but we both know they would’ve called if they were okay. It’s been almost six hours since they left. The fact that Ullr is looking for him and having no luck proves that something bad must’ve happened.”

“Right you are, Mikkel.” A voice chuckled maniacally from the doorway. The god of mischief only smirked when Odin pointed a sword at his throat.

“Loki, where are they?” A primal fury etched in his voice as Odin held back from slitting the throat of the other god. While a god could die, the All-father looked more than a little happy to inflict one of the more painful punishments on him.

“Now, what is in it for me if I just simply tell you where the two are and what Colin did to them,” he asked with a slight smirk crossing his face. “For the record, I had nothing to do with either their kidnapping or the rape of Mikkel here. I may have been here but I never participated.”

Odin lowered the sword, knowing that he needed to play along for a little while longer to get the information he needed from other god. He listened closely to Loki’s demands for no punishment and smiled a little himself. There were ways of playing with the god of mischief and he knew exactly how to do this.

“I would agree, but you see, I already know you are lying on the count of not being involved in what happened to Ullr’s former host. For that alone, you shall face time trapped in the soul box. How much time is up to you and the information you give to save Anders and Axl.”

Loki growled as he tried to figure out how he found out the truth of his involvement. The mischief-maker knew it a better move to give his lord the information he needed and accept his faith. He rattled off the address of a small airfield outside of Auckland and that Colin planned to take the second-eldest Johnson out of the country that night after finally breaking his will.

Moments later a silver edged blue glass box appeared at his feet while inside a small vortex whirled out of control. The god pleaded with Odin to have mercy on him and to give him a different punishment. His pleas fell on deaf ears.

“I have found you guilty of aiding in the rape of not only Mikkel Johnson, but the rape and torture of Anders Johnson while hosting Bragi. For those three crimes alone, you shall face one thousand years per crime in the box of souls. If the two whom Colin has taken are not returned uninjured, then your sentence will be extended two-hundred years per injury!” With a simple tap to the box with the point of his sword, the box opened and sucked Loki violently inside. His screams would remain with everyone for the rest of their lives. “Mike, Michele, Ty, Bragi, and Ullr…you are with me to retrieve Axl and Anders. The rest of you, guard that box with your lives.”

* * *

The group approached the ordinary looking hanger with an empty Gulfstream plane sitting outside. Their first indication that they were in the right place was hearing Axl screaming for his brother to be okay repeatedly. Bragi took the first opportunity to find out what was going on when an attractive young flight attendant stepped out of the plane.

“Excuse me miss, but could you tell me what is going on in there with all that screaming?” He was charming. Mike would give him that, but it made him wonder how many of the women Anders screwed since his twenty-first was his choice and not Bragi’s.

“Oh that?   From what my boss said someone he knows needs to film a scene for a movie project in school. This was the only time they had, so he and his partner are filming it before we leave. You don’t have worry about the screams, they were scripted.”

The god slipped a lock of the woman’s raven hair behind her ear as he whispered softly to her. None of the others heard what either said, but by the smug look as he returned they knew he got the information he wanted. “Colin is in there and told the flight crew that he and his partner are filming a movie. That’s why none of them called the police.”

Odin motioned them to the door. Looking at the mortals, he told them to leave the lawyer to the gods. By the screams coming from within, they knew that Anders needed them more than they needed revenge. It took one swift kick from Bragi for the door to go flying off its hinges. Once the door hit the ground, Colin bolted for the door while Odin and the gods took off after him. Bragi looked back for one brief moment to see the three mortals racing over to the tied up brothers.

* * *

Mike stared at the body of his brother lying on the floor in front of him. The blond’s hands were shackled and stretched over his head to a nearby pipe while his feet were spread wide. Bruises and dried blood covered his body while his eyes stared off at nothing. Covering his mouth, he tried his best to keep down what little his stomach held. It pissed him off that Colin dared do this to Anders.

While Ty dealt with getting Axl’s ties undone, Mike leaned down to see if he could get some kind of reaction from the blond. In the last thirty-six hours, his heart broke more than it had his entire life for this man. He never realized how much he needed to hear his voice and it just wasn’t going to happen.

“Please Anders, come back to us. Look at me and nod your head if you understand me.” The moment that no answer came, Mike only stared at Michele while she checked his vitals.

“Call an ambulance!” She screamed at the brothers while trying to stop the bleeding from a few cuts that reopened on his back. “Anders, I need you to blink once if you understand me. Please baby, blink your eyes for me.”

Her heart leaped into her throat when his eyelids closed and reopened a second later. “I wish I still had access to Yggdrasil,” she muttered. “Anders, blink once for yes and twice for no. Does it hurt to talk?”

He just stared at her while she tended his wounds. His world slipping away as a black haze formed at the edges of his vision. There would be no pain where he was going. No pain, no one to hurt him again, just peace and not a care in the world. Michele yelling at him to stay with her would be the last thing he heard for a while.

* * *

Mike stared at the hospital room door. Two weeks ago, he found his little brother chained to a drainpipe and watched as he slipped into a coma in front of his own eyes. Two weeks ago, he watched as his own ex-girlfriend saved Anders’ life. Twenty minutes ago, he watched as his brother started gagging on the breathing tube in his throat. Eighteen minutes ago, they kicked him out of his brother's room and stuck him in the hall to wait.

Doctor Tam allowed him to come back in about twenty minutes later. The sight that greeted him brought him crashing down into a nearby chair and the tears started flowing from his eyes. Blue eyes stared back at him from the hospital bed. Anders’ wonderful blue eyes were open.

“His body rejected the breathing tube, which then caused the convulsions. Once we removed it, he started to wake up.”

Mike barely acknowledge the doctor leaving as he moved the chair closer to the bed. All he wanted at that moment, his brother's voice. Nothing else would do, to hear that voice that used to piss him off. Grasping his brother’s hand, he couldn’t stop the stupid grin or tears. “Welcome back, munchkin.”

“Axl…saw…” Anders voice came out soft and raspy from underuse.

“Colin forced him to watch apparently. Told him that he would rip your throat out if he didn’t.”

“Axl…okay?”

Mike nodded as he explained how Colin left him alone, but when they arrived at the hospital, Axl became obsessed with staying by Anders side constantly. He told him how they all worried over it and that Ty managed to get him to promise to spend a minimum of two hours a day away from the hospital. Michele scheduled him an appointment with a trauma counselor in the hospital just so he could have someone to talk to about what happened.

“I thought you should know that they caught Colin. Well, they found his body in a pile of garbage. The official police report is that he tripped and fell into the pile and managed to cut open his neck on a rusty nail while impaling himself on a sharp piece of wood. Unofficially, Bragi got pissed off when he saw you and took justice in his own hands.”

It amazed him how much Anders body relaxed when he heard of his tormentor’s death. Nothing, however, compared to how his eyes brightened just a fraction at the sight of Michele standing in the doorway of the room. Those blue eyes never left the sight of the woman as she moved over to the other side of the bed. Things were looking good for the blond’s recovery if he could still show affection for someone else.

“A little birdie told me that you were awake and I just had to see it for myself.” She moved her hand hesitantly towards his face. When his eyes stayed focused on hers, she cupped his cheek with her hand and smiled softly. “When you get out of here, I’m going to be taking some time off to take care of you. Hannah and Mike have offered to let us stay with them for a while so they can help as well. Hope it’s all right that I accepted.”

Anders nodded, trying hard not to flinch away from her touch. He would not let the late Colin Gunderson win. He loved this woman and he would not be afraid of her. “Fish?”

“Dawn moved them over this morning between meetings with your clients. You might just have to make her a partner with everything she’s doing to keep J:PR afloat.”

His eyes closed for a moment, letting himself relax a little more. Dawn would be getting more than she thought coming to her for this. He would definitely have to think long and hard about this. “Do you know how they got us?”

“Axl said something about Colin holding a gun to his head and demanding that you “obey” or watch his brains get blown out in the lobby of your building.” Mike replied. That story gave Hannah and him enough of a reason to invite Anders and Michele to move in for as long as they needed. There was no way his brother would want to go back there for some time. “He also said that when you got to the car, Colin injected you with something that knocked you out rather fast.”

He kept his eyes closed trying hard to fight the tears that were threatening. This topic needed to be dropped and fast.

Everyone stopped talking for a while. Anders could hear his brother moving around, but made no further move to discuss the matter. He felt Michele wipe the tears away from his eyes. Moments later, his eyes flew open at the sound of a small familiar gasp to see Mike and Axl standing in the doorway. Shakily holding a hand out, his heart felt lighter as the brunet ran to the bed and grabbed it.

“I’m so sorry,” Axl sobbed. “I really did try to get out of the rope, but damn it…Colin is good at tying knots!”

“Shhhh…” Anders stared back at his little brother. Tears streaming down both of their cheeks. “I’m sorry that he made you watch that. No one should have to see or go through that. Now, I don’t mind you guys staying, but I think I need to go back to sleep now.”

* * *

 

 

 


	6. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes: This is the last chapter…it’s over!

Anders stared at his family standing in the backyard of his new home. He closed on the small mid-century ranch house only a week before. He sold his apartment to Zeb and Eggther when Axl moved in with his new girlfriend. Who would’ve thought that those two would have gotten together after Odin returned all of Zeb’s memories to him? One year ago, he didn’t think he could ever be happy again. Then again, one year ago, he was laying comatose in a hospital bed. Today, everyone gathered at his place to welcome Ty and Dawn’s baby girl, Amanda, and Mike and Hannah’s son, Jacob, to the world.

He watched as Axl and his girlfriend, the receptionist of the Johnson family’s shrink, talk to Zeb and his Giant partner. Ty and Mike were joking around with Olaf, while Dawn, Stacey, Hannah, and Ingrid were cooing over the babies. Michele left the party a little while earlier to change when Amanda spit up all over her shirt. It did his heart good to see everyone so happy and recovering from the horrors of the previous year.

Stepping away from the window, he hoped that they would shortly have something else to celebrate. Today felt like the right day to do this. Walking to their room, he felt his heart skip a beat as he watched his lovely Michele slipping into her black form-fitting shirt.

“Hey there beautiful, got a minute for your slightly less broken boyfriend?” He pulled her towards the bed before she had a chance to comment on his broken reference. Apparently, she hated when he called himself that. “I need to ask you something important, so please let me get through this without saying anything. Not exactly sure if I can do it if you interrupt.”

Watching the apprehension cross her face, he remembered how there were times when they both were still afraid to touch the other. It took him three months before they could share a bed again, and another three months before the nightmares quieted down so they could finally start sleeping through an entire night. It was another month before he even considered going back to his apartment, and that ended in him breaking down. Mike and Hannah were great to allow them to stay at their place as long as they needed it. He needed to be close to his brother to the point it was almost like a little bit of a security blanket, and lucked out finding this place only two blocks away.

“You have been here with me and for me this last year when most people would’ve run for the hills. I need you to know that I do appreciate what you’ve done to help me, and it’s made me fall deeper in love with you. The days that I’m at my lowest, you are always there to cheer me up or just listen to me. I love the fact that you really listen to what I have to say, even if there are no words to reply with.”

“With that being said, I want to ask you something very important.” Sliding off the bed, he pulled a small box out from his jacket pocket. “Michele Brock, would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”

The End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m going to leave her answer up to you guys…but in my heart, she says yes! :-D

**Author's Note:**

> If you would like updates, please follow me on my tumblr page: [Jadedmooneflowerz](http://jadedmooneflowerz.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Title graphic made with image from outlawgraphics.com


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